MLTN Infoline – July 19, 2022
Print Copies of Conservation Options Have Arrived! | |
Last summer we completed a full update and redesign of our popular booklet Conservation Options: A Guide for Maine Landowners, available in PDF format. Now we’re excited to announce that we’ve got print copies available for purchase. These booklets are a great tool for land trusts to use when talking with landowners who are thinking about conserving their land, or when doing outreach to legislators, candidates, or municipal officials unfamiliar with land trusts and how they protect land. Individuals can receive a print copy for personal use for free. Otherwise, the cost will be $6 per copy. MLTN members will receive a discount, $5 per copy, plus shipping if you need us to mail them. Email to place your order. Happy Summer! | |
Staying Vigilant on Syndication | |
| For a number of years, we’ve highlighted concerns about “syndication”, a tax shelter scheme that is designed to generate profits from so-called charitable donations for conservation easements. The bottom line is that syndication is bad for landowners, land trusts, and the system of fair tax deductions that promotes land conservation. The Land Trust Alliance and many national partners have been working hard to end this abusive practice and are helping guide the Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act (H.R. 4164 and S. 2256) through Congress. Not surprisingly, since this act will shut down these tax shelters, the unscrupulous investors who have profited are scrambling to defeat these important reforms. If anyone within your land trust is contacted by someone claiming that the Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act is bad for conservation:
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Cx3: Community, Coldwater, Conservation | |
Tuesday-Sunday, July 20-24, 2022 Holiday Inn by the Bay, Portland, and other locations Cost: variable Join Trout Unlimited and others in the conservation community to celebrate cold, clean rivers and the joy we get from being active in the outdoors. Share the love for coldwater rivers and streams by experiencing what has been conserved. Connect with others while taking part in conservation-focused events. This year’s Cx3 is Trout Unlimited’s biggest family-and-friends focused gathering ever. Check out all the details, get a list of events, and buy tickets at the Cx3 website. | |
How to Start Using Data and Build an Evaluation Culture | |
Tuesday, July 26, 2022 11:00am-1:00pm Cost: $45 MANP members*, $65 nonmembers This event is possible thanks to a partnership between the Maine Association of Nonprofits and the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits When you hear the word “evaluation,” what comes to mind? Requirements from funders? An audit? Scrambling to track down information for a report? Stress? What if someone told you evaluation could be a tool to support your own work while also making your funders and higher-ups happy? This workshop will walk you through how to take simple steps to easily incorporate evaluation into your everyday work. You will learn how to use what you already know and are already doing to learn more about your work, do it better, and communicate your impact. It is designed to help smaller and lower-resourced organizations get started building an evaluation culture and share evaluation concepts that are not your standard “Eval 101” content. Learn more and register at MANP’s website. *Most MLTN members are MANP members. Contact Donna to check your MLTN membership status. | |
Worldbuilding: Brand-New Language for Nonprofit Communications | |
Thursday, August 4, 2022 10:30am-12:30pm Cost: $45 MANP members*, $65 nonmembers This event is possible thanks to a partnership between the Maine Association of Nonprofits and the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits In our increasingly polarized and noisy society, nonprofit communications has never been more important or more challenging. As a nonprofit communicator, you have to speak clearly and powerfully to a wildly varied array of external audiences, from lawmakers to funders to activists — without compromising the integrity of your values or the clarity of your mission. Sometimes, the challenge can be so daunting that nonprofits fall back on unsatisfying jargon that does not really connect. In this hands-on workshop, communications strategist Neil Ashvin Chudgar will share a powerful, practical and liberating framework for nonprofit communications with integrity: worldbuilding. Nonprofit communicators of all kinds are invited to bring a specific communications problem to the workshop. Participants will leave with some brand-new language to try out right away. Learn more and register on MANP’s website. *Most MLTN members are MANP members. Contact Donna to check your MLTN membership status. | |
Chainsaw Training | |
Friday, August 12, 2022 8:00am-1:00pm Meadow Brook Forest, Surry Our good friends at Blue Hill Heritage Trust and Maine Woodland Owners invite you to join them for this training that will cover everything from saw maintenance to firewood cutting to tree felling.* Safety gear is required. There will be some gear available if you don’t have your own. * This is not a full Certified Logging Professional training and will not serve as Level 1 certification. To register, email Si Balch. | |
Jobs in the Conservation Sector | |
Here are the newest job postings. View the full list at mltn.org. Tribal Land Recovery Manager – First Light Habitat Restoration Project Manager – Atlantic Salmon Federation Executive Director – Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust Accounting Associate – Maine Audubon Chief Executive Officer – Natural Resources Council of Maine Stewardship Manager – Boothbay Region Land Trust Lake Smart Coordinator – Maine Lakes | |
Maine Community Foundation Grants | |
The Maine Community Foundation offers two grant programs to meet the needs of Maine’s conservation community – Conservation for All grants and Maine Land Protection grants. The cycle for both of these grants opens on July 1st, with applications due September 15th at 11:59pm.
MaineCF wants to be clear about what they will fund and support organizations that are best set up for success. Please visit the links above and review their eligibility requirements, criteria, and priorities before applying. | |